Greek. Phrasebook & Dictionary

Transcription

1 Greek Phrasebook & Dictionary

2 acknowledgments acknowledgments This 7th edition of Lonely Planet s Greek phrasebook is based on the previous edition by the Lonely Planet Language Products team and translator Dr Thanasis Spilias. Thanasis studied in Greece (University of Thessaloniki) and Australia (University of Melbourne, La Trobe University and University of New England). He has taught Greek language and culture at Deakin and La Trobe Universities and worked as the State Consultant for Greek Language (Victoria, Australia). Thanasis main research interests are in Greek language and literature, Greek Australian literature and literary translation. He has published articles in both Greece and Australia, and has co-edited Reflections: Selected Works from Greek Australian Literature. With G Betts and S Gauntlett, he has translated Vitsentzos Kornaros Erotokritos into English. 3

3 MAKE THE MOST OF THIS PHRASEBOOK 4 make the most of this phrasebook... Anyone can speak another language! It s all about confidence. Don t worry if you can t remember your school language lessons or if you ve never learnt a language before. Even if you learn the very basics (on the inside covers of this book), your travel experience will be the better for it. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain when the locals hear you making an effort. finding things in this book For easy navigation, this book is in sections. The Basics chapters are the ones you ll thumb through time and again. The Practical section covers basic travel situations like catching transport and finding a bed. The Social section gives you conversational phrases, pick-up lines, the ability to express opinions so you can get to know people. Food has a section all of its own: gourmets and vegetarians are covered and local dishes feature. Safe Travel equips you with health and police phrases, just in case. Remember the colours of each section and you ll find everything easily; or use the comprehensive Index. Otherwise, check the two-way traveller s Dictionary for the word you need. being understood Throughout this book you ll see coloured phrases on each page. They re phonetic guides to help you pronounce the language. You don t even need to look at the language itself, but you ll get used to the way we ve represented particular sounds. The pronunciation chapter in Basics will explain more, but you can feel confident that if you read the coloured phrase slowly, you ll be understood. communication tips Body language, ways of doing things, sense of humour all have a role to play in every culture. Local talk boxes show you common ways of saying things, or everyday language to drop into conversation. Listen for boxes supply the phrases you may hear. They start with the Greek translation (so a Greek speaker can look up the phrase they want to say to you) and then lead in to the pronunciation guide and the English translation.

4 about greek...8 map... 8 introduction... 9 basics...11 pronunciation vowel sounds...11 consonant sounds...12 word stress...13 intonation...13 reading & writing...14 a z phrasebuilder contents...15 adjectives & adverbs...17 articles...17 be...18 case...19 demonstratives...20 gender...21 have...21 negatives...22 personal pronouns...23 plurals...24 possessives...25 prepositions...26 questions...27 requests...29 verbs...29 word order...31 glossary...32 language difficulties numbers & amounts cardinal numbers...35 ordinal numbers...36 fractions...37 useful amounts...37 time & dates telling the time...39 the calendar...40 present...41 past...41 future...42 during the day...42 money practical...45 transport getting around...45 tickets...46 luggage...49 plane...50 bus, trolley bus & coach...50 train & metro...51 boat...52 taxi...54 car & motorbike...55 bicycle...59 border crossing border crossing...61 at customs...62 directions accommodation finding accommodation...65 booking ahead & checking in...66 requests & queries...68 complaints...70 checking out...71 camping...72 renting...73 staying with locals...74 shopping looking for...75 making a purchase...76 CONTENTS 5

5 CONTENTS 6 bargaining...77 books & reading...78 clothes...79 electronic goods...79 hairdressing...81 music & DVD...81 video & photography...81 repairs...83 communications post office...85 phone...87 mobile/cell phone...89 the internet...90 banking sightseeing getting in...95 tours...96 business doing business...97 looking for a job...99 senior & disabled travellers children travelling with children talking with children talking about children social meeting people basics greetings & goodbyes addressing people making conversation nationalities age occupations & studies family farewells interests common interests music cinema & theatre feelings & opinions feelings opinions politics & social issues the environment going out where to go invitations responding to invitations..129 arranging to meet drugs romance asking someone out pick-up lines rejections getting closer sex love problems leaving beliefs & cultural differences religion cultural differences art sport sporting interests going to a game playing sport fishing horse riding soccer/football tennis & table tennis water sports outdoors hiking beach weather flora & fauna

6 food eating out basics finding a place to eat at the restaurant at the table talking food methods of preparation nonalcoholic drinks alcoholic drinks in the bar drinking up self-catering vegetarian & special meals..173 ordering food special diets & allergies menu decoder safe travel essentials emergencies police health doctor symptoms & conditions women s health allergies parts of the body alternative treatments pharmacist dentist dictionaries english greek dictionary greek english dictionary index CONTENTS 7

7 greek ABOUT GREEK 8 BLACK SEA Bulgaria Turkey Alexandroupolis Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Seres Macedonia Adriatic Sea Sea of Thrace Thracian Sea Kavala Albania Thessaloniki Veria NORTHEASTERN AEGEAN ISLANDS Ioannina Lesvos Volos Larisa Thessaly Epiros Corfu Corfu official language Mytilini SPORADES Turkey GREECE AEGEAN SEA Ionian Sea Skyros Evia Halkida Athens Piraeus Thiva Sterea Ellada IONIAN ISLANDS Lefkada Chios Patras Kefallonia Samos Andros Ikaria SARONIC GULF ISLANDS Corinth Peloponnese Nafplio Sparta Zakynthos For more details, see the introduction. Mykonos Naxos Kos CYCLADES MEDITERRANEAN SEA Amorgos Rhodes DODECANESE Milos Mirtoön Sea Rhodes Santorini (Thira) Kythira Sea of Crete Turkey Greece Karpathos Hania Iraklio MEDITERRANEAN SEA Crete Cyprus

8 ABOUT GREEK Εισαγωγή Aristotle, Homer, Plato, Sappho, Herodotus and Alexander the Great can t all be wrong in their choice of language if you ve ever come across arcane concepts such as democracy, exotic disciplines like trigonometry or a little-known neurosis termed the Oedipus complex, then you ll have some inkling of the widespread influence of Greek language and culture. With just a little Modern Greek under your belt, you ll have a richer understanding of this language s impact on contemporary Western culture. Greek is the official language of Greece and a co-official language of Cyprus, in addition to being spoken by emigrant communities in Turkey, Australia, Canada, Germany and the United States. at a glance language name: Greek name in language: Ελληνικά e li ni ka, Νέα Ελληνικά ne a e li ni ka (Greek, Modern Greek) language family: Indo-European (Hellenic branch) key countries: Greece, Cyprus approximate number of speakers: 13 million worldwide close relatives: Ancient Greek donations to English: anarchy, astronomy, cosmos, democracy, drama, logic, politics In total, there are over 13 million Greek speakers worldwide. Modern Greek constitutes a separate branch of the Indo- European language family, with Ancient Greek its only (extinct) relative. The first records of written Ancient Greek were found in the fragmentary Linear B tablets, dating from the 14th to the 12th centuries BC. By the 9th century BC, the Greeks had adapted the Phoenician alphabet to include vowels the first alphabet to do so and the script in use today came to its final form some time in the 5th century BC. The Greek script was the foundation for the Cyrillic script (used in Slavic languages) and the Latin alphabet (used in English and other European languages). Although written Greek may have been remarkably stable introduction 9

9 ABOUT GREEK 10 over the millennia, the spoken language has evolved considerably. In the 5th century, the dialect spoken around Athens (known as Attic ) became the dominant speech as a result of the city-state s cultural and political prestige. Attic gained even greater influence as the medium of administration for the vast empire of Alexander the Great, and remained the official language of the Eastern Roman Empire and the Orthodox Church after the demise of the Hellenistic world. Once the Ottoman Turks took Constantinople in 1453, the Attic dialect lost its official function. In the meantime, the common language known as Koine ( Κοινή ki ni) continued to evolve. It developed a rich history of popular songs (δημοτικά τραγούδια ţhi mo ti ka tra ghu ţhia) and absorbed vocabulary from Turkish, Italian, Albanian and other Balkan languages. When an independent Greece returned to the world stage in 1832, it needed to choose a national language. Purists advocated a slightly modernised version of Attic known as Καθαρεύουσα ka tha re vu sa (from the Greek word for clean ), which no longer resembled the spoken language. Koine, or laiki as it was also known ( λαϊκή la i ki means popular ), had strong support as it was spoken and understood by the majority of Greeks in the end, this was the language which gained official recognition. By the mid-20th century, Koine/laiki was known as demotic and continued in daily use. It was banned during Greece s military dictatorship ( ) but then reinstated as the official language of the Hellenic Republic. This book gives you the practical phrases you need to get by in Greek, as well as all the fun, spontaneous phrases that can lead to a better understanding of Greeks and their culture. Once you ve got the hang of how to pronounce Greek words, the rest is just a matter of confidence. Local knowledge, new relationships and a sense of satisfaction are on the tip of your tongue. So don t just stand there, say something! abbreviations used in this book a adjective n neuter (after Greek) acc accusative n noun (after English) f feminine nom nominative gen genitive pl plural inf informal pol polite lit literal sg singular m masculine v verb

10 BASICS > pronunciation προφορά The pronunciation of Greek is easy to master, as most of the sounds correspond to those found in English. Use the coloured pronunciation guides to become familiar with them, and then read directly from the Greek when you feel more confident. vowel sounds Greek vowels are pronounced separately even when they re written in sequence, eg ζώο zo o (animal). You ll see though in the table below that some letter combinations correspond to a single sound ουρά (queue) is pronounced u ra. When a word ending in a vowel is followed by another word that starts with the same or a similar vowel sound, one vowel is usually omitted and the two words are pronounced as if they were one Σε ευχαριστώ se ef kha ris to becomes Σ ευχαριστώ sef kha ris to (Thank you). Note that the apostrophe ( ) is used to show that two words have been joined together. symbol english equivalent greek example transliteration a car αλλά a la e bet πλένομαι ple no me i lid πίσω, πόλη, υποφέρω, είδος, οικογένεια, υιός pi so, po li, i po fe ro, i ţhos, i ko ye ni a, i os o lot πόνος, πίσω po nos, pi so u put ουρά u ra ia nostalgia ζητιάνος zi tia nos io ratio πιο pio pronunciation 11

11 consonant sounds Most Greek consonant sounds are also found in English only the guttural gh and kh might need a bit of practice. Double consonants are only pronounced once άλλος a los (other). BASICS 12 symbol english equivalent greek example transliteration b bed μπαρ bar d dog ντομάτα do ma ta dz adds τζαμί dza mi f fit φως, αυτή fos, af ti g gap γκαρσόν gar son gh guttural sound, between goat and loch γάτα gha ta h heat χέρι he ri k kit καλά ka la kh loch (guttural sound) χαλί kha li l let λάδι la ţhi m mat μαζί ma zi n not ναός na os ng singer ελέγχω e leng kho p pin πάνω pa no ps lapse ψάρι psa ri r red (trilled) ράβω ra vo s sad στυλό sti lo t top τι ti th theatre θέα the a ţh the δεν ţhen ts hats τσέπη tse pi v vase βίζα, αύριο vi za, av ri o y yes γέρος ye ros z zoo ζέστη ze sti